I Get High With A Little Help From My Friends
by mayzie
Summary: A coming of age tale for the Marauders. Set respectively in the 70s the boys learn a new way to have fun. Rated T just in case for the topic. Oneshot.


**I think we all need to remember that Lily and the Marauders were in Hogwarts during the 70's. This is a coming of age tale for the Marauders and some others. If you're not down with what was going on in the 60's and 70's I do not recommend reading this.**

**This is not a topic I never planned to write about, but I read another fanfic involving pot and the Marauders that portrayed the characters differently than how I see them in my mind so I wrote this just to satisfy myself and get the story out of my head. This probably takes place in their 6th or 7th year (I don't want to start them too young haha).**** I wanted to show the awkwardness of the first time as well as the humor that always seems to be involved.**

**Hope you like it (:

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"So, it's just us then?" Lily looked at her two best friends then she looked at three of the 'Marauders', two of which she had always hated. James nodded, "I can't believe you, me, Padfoot, Moony, Marlene and Alice are the only Gryffindors who stayed for the holidays!" The six Gryffindors were indeed alone, sitting on the floor of the common room warming themselves with the dying blaze of the fire. Lily was unhappy at first with the arrangements but when Sirius didn't have tons of girls around to impress he could be pretty civil, James had also proved to have matured, Remus was well, sweet and reserved as always, and creepy Peter was luckily at home.

"You know what this means, right?" Sirius said smiling devilishly. Remus looked as though he feared the worst but James seemed to be on the same page as Sirius and was grinning too. Alice, Lily, and Marlene exchanged looks, slight worry playing across their faces.

"PARTY!" Sirius screamed. James raised his wand and green and red streamers flew from its tip and draped themselves elegantly all around the room. Remus sighed but smiled and all of the girls started grinning.

"Anybody got firewhiskey?" James asked hopefully. He looked around at his friends all of which were shaking their heads. "How the hell are we gonna have a party, then?" Lily immediately looked to the other girls before all three went bounding up the staircase to the girls' dormitories, leaving three very confused boys.

"Are we-" Alice started. Lily nodded vigorously. Marlene put her hand on her cheek, "Oh those poor boys won't know what's hit them."

"No, those poor boys won't know what they're hitting," said Lily emerging happily from her trunk.

"Lils are you sure we should do this?" Alice said full of concern, "I mean I've never done this with boys before."

"What Alice is really worried about is, is there enough for all of us?" Marlene said laughing and Alice just shrugged.

"We haven't done it all year, trust me, there's enough," now Lily was smiling devilishly. She weighed the drawstring bag in her hand. Satisfied with the bag Lily led the girls back down to the common room.

The boys had seated themselves in the two armchairs and the couch in front of the fireplace. When they heard the girls come back down the stairs they all stood up expectantly. Alice joined Remus on the couch and Marlene and Lily sat on the ground in front of Sirius and James.

"What've you got there, Evans?" James asked looking down at Lily curiously. Marlene giggled as she leaned her head against Sirius's leg. He looked up and had a mixed look of bewilderment and elation.

"Now boys, we're going to have to ask you to keep an open mind," Lily said slowly. All of a sudden the three boys were staring at the bag in Lily's lap like a monster was sleeping within. She started to pull the bag's contents out one at a time. Everyone leaned in to get a better look.

"Oh Merlin!" Marlene squealed practically pouncing on the last thing Lily pulled from the bag. It was a little glass thing that was all different colors. Marlene caressed it in a way that was borderline creepy, "I've missed you," she cooed. Alice and Lily couldn't help but laugh at Marlene and the confused expressions on the Marauders' faces.

"What-?" Sirius didn't really complete his question but Alice took the cue to speak. She changed her soft sweet voice to a slow and hazy one, much like their crazy Divination professor's, "We're going to teach you guys how to smoke-" she looked up embarrassedly, "pot." Lily waited for their reactions, she knew the boys were from wizard families and were probably not aware of the drug that was becoming increasingly popular in muggle Europe and the States just like Marlene and Alice, prior to the past summer.

"We're going to smoke pots? How? We don't even have any pots," James said utterly confused. Remus kept looking from Marlene to Alice to Lily and back again and Sirius's face was screwed up while staring at the items in front of Lily, trying to make sense of it all. Marlene placed the glass object down with the rest of the things that had come out of Lily's bag and stifled a laugh.

"No, pot is the slang term, another is weed, or Mary Jane. It's really called Marijuana."

"Well what is mary-wanna?" Sirius said impatiently.

"It's a muggle drug, it gets you high," Lily said calmly looking up at Sirius.

"Drug? What's high?" James looked at the items tentatively.

"Well a drug is a muggle thing that's usually illegal that makes you feel good-"

"And high is that feeling you get when you do it. It's all calm and stuff," Marlene finished for Lily.

"Illegal?" Sirius bellowed, "Prongs! You never told me Evans was a bad girl!" Lily turned to look up at James whose eyes were the size of saucers and had a grin spreading across his face.

"I-I didn't know," he said shocked but happy.

"Well are we going to do it or are we just going to talk about it?" Remus finally said.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist Moony, I want to know what we're getting ourselves into," Sirius barked.

"Hey don't yell at Moony, I want to do this too! Imagine the day when goody-two-shoes Evans has done something bad I've never even heard of before," James said the last bit more to himself than to Sirius. Lily cocked an eyebrow, "Is that what you think of me Potter?"

"I-I- well come on you're always yelling at me when I break rules, I didn't think you had it in you to do it yourself."

"And so the student becomes the master, blah, blah, blah, come on I haven't smoked since summer!" Marlene shrieked impatiently.

"Okay, okay, this," Lily held up a clear jar full of funny green plant-like things so that all the boys could see in the fire light, "is pot." The Marauders nodded in understanding.

"Smell it," she continued, passing the jar off to James. He crinkled his nose and passed it to his left to Remus. Remus did the same, opened the lid, sniffed, crinkled his nose, then passed it to Alice. She took a big whiff and muttered something that sounded like, "Sweet perfume," then passed it on to Sirius. He looked at the jar in his hands then slowly raised the open lid to his nose.

"What do you think Padfoot?" asked James as he looked at his best friend.

"Well it's kind of gross, like a skunk, but at the same time it's kind of good," Sirius grinned and the girls laughed. Marlene took the jar and placed in front of her crossed legs, the glass lid hanging open on a metal hinge.

"This, is a bowl," Lily said as she picked up the colorful glass piece and passed it around. It had a dip in the top, something like a mouthpiece, and a hole on the side. There were still other items in front of Lily, which she explained was for if you wanted to smoke it like a cigarette. After everything was explained Sirius puffed out his chest, "I'm going first!"

"Fine, all the boys will go first," Alice agreed as she passed the pipe from Lily to Marlene. Marlene took one of the strange bud-like things and started picking it apart, Sirius bent over to watch. She placed the pieces in the top of the bowl and brought it up to Sirius. Marlene perched herself on the right arm of Sirius's chair and held the bowl out.

"Put your mouth on that," she indicated the lengthened part of the bowl that was like a large tube, Sirius listened. "Now hold it like this," she pulled his hand up and placed his thumb over the hole in the side, Sirius smiled at Marlene's touch, which didn't go unnoticed by the others. Now Marlene was practically leaning on Sirius with her mouth next to his ear. "Now keep inhaling until I say stop," she purred into his ear and he shuddered. Everyone else was watching quietly, leaning towards them slightly.

"When I say 'let go' take your thumb off the hole, but keep inhaling," Marlene said in her normal voice as she reached back to the side table to retrieve her wand. She lit the pot and the six watched as it burned and curled in a red blaze in the middle of the bowl. Sirius's chest filled slowly.

"Let go," Marlene said calmly, "keep inhaling…stop. Hold it, hold it!" Sirius looked slightly pained. "Now exhale," Marlene smiled as his breath came out as a smoky cough. James and Remus laughed as Sirius continued coughing then he shot them a dirty look through his watery eyes, "It really burns guys!"

"Eh you'll learn to love it," Marlene said waving her hand, but she looked him in the eyes, "You did _fine_."

James looked nervous and wrapped his hands around the ends of the arms of his chair, "You can go next Moony."

"I'll help you," Alice said brightly as she took the bowl in one hand and her own wand in her other. "Do you know how to hold it?" Alice wasn't as keen on touching Remus as Marlene was with Sirius because Alice's boyfriend, Frank, was home on holiday.

"Now just move your- yep just like that- well over- yeah, yeah that's good," Alice said waving and pointing instead of positioning Remus's hand herself. Everyone laughed and she blushed. Then she lit the remaining pot in the bowl and instructed Remus just as Marlene had, but at more of an awkward distance and louder too. Remus exhaled the same as Sirius, coughing smoke. Alice slapped his back and he gave a little triumphant smile.

"Piece of cake," he grinned at Sirius who still looked a bit worn. Lily got up to retrieve the bowl from Remus and crouched in front of James.

"Do you want me to help?" For a second James wanted to brush her off and be a man to show up the other two but he remembered his nerves and looked from Sirius to Remus to Lily. Lily. Her green eyes were reflecting the flickering hearth, and for the first time they looked at James with no sign of hate, exasperation, or boredom. She really wanted to help him; she was the one that had shared with his friends. Suddenly James was seeing the warm side of Lily he had always hoped to.

"Of course," he said composing himself and throwing on an award winning smile. Lily decided to swoon later, she liked seeing James nervous and vulnerable, not like his normal prat self. _She_ was helping _him_, not the other way around.

"Okay," she scooted closer to him on her knees, stopping right between his parted legs. Being a gentleman, unlike Sirius, he thought it best to sit up a little so his crotch wasn't in Lily's face. She laughed at his uneasiness to her being so close.

"There's only a little left, but I promise you'll get more later," Lily handed James the bowl. He wasn't looking anywhere else but at her, he even put the bowl up to his mouth without paying attention.

"OW!" Glass made contact with tooth.

"Careful! You'll chip a tooth that way and I don't know how we'd explain this to Madam Pomfrey!" Lily said taking the bowl and James's hand firmly in her own soft hand. She slowly but surely moved the bowl back to James's lips but his eyes were on her hand touching his. Sirius roared with laughter but James paid him no mind. Lily was about to light the bowl for the third time but just as her wand tip was poised over what was left of the pot, she leaned in and whispered into James's ear, "Listen to my commands but no matter what I do in between them keep inhaling." James nodded. Lily lit the bowl and just as James started to fill his lungs with burning smoke Lily pounded lightly on his chest. He gave her an alarmed look but did what he was told. When James finally exhaled he shuddered a little at the new burning in his throat and nose but didn't cough. He looked at Lily who smiled. Sirius and Remus looked shocked.

"What's the matter Padfoot, upset you can't hold your smoke?" James teased. James thought about how much he liked the white spot that appeared before his eyes when he blinked after staring into the blazing bowl. He also considered how, though a feeling he wouldn't regularly enjoy, the burning in his nose and throat were somewhat pleasant, he liked it. He liked it a lot.

Marlene, Alice, and Lily all took their own hits after repacking the bowl, then helped the boys for a second, third, fourth round. Soon the group was burning their way through Lily's once full jar.

"Whoa. Everything is so clear, it's like there's more colors!" James exclaimed taking off his glasses then replacing them before taking them off again and returning them to his face once more. Everyone laughed for what felt like forever, which was fine.

"I haven't felt this good, like ever!" Remus sighed and smoke came billowing out of his nose like a pro. "Everything, like, just feels good, it's like the opposite of hurt, I _want_ to move around." Remus moved his arms fluidly like a wave and watched in fascination, all the while Alice was draped over the arm of the couch laughing uncontrollably as bubbles poured out of her wand, "This spell is so much better _now_!"

Somehow Lily managed to squeeze herself onto the armchair with James who was next to smoke. Sirius and Marlene had gotten sufficiently high an hour before and had since abandoned smoking to entangle themselves onto the one poor armchair. James puffed smoke out of his nose and him and Lily laughed about it a little too long.

"What's it like for you?" James asked as he looked into Lily's bright eyes.

"I dunoooo. Sometimes it's like the world is moving around me and everything's like a blur (that's scary), sometimes I just feel really good. The best is when I don't think, like tonight. Usually I'm so in my head and I over analyze _everything_, but right now there is _nothing_ goin' on in there." Lily took a long pause where she looked up at the ceiling. "Nothing. I just say stuff, there's no thinking before, whatever happens, happens. I like it." James looked at her and knew exactly what she meant and realized he had been unaware of the fact that his arm was around Lily's shoulder. He couldn't even remember when he had made the decision to put his arm around her shoulder. As Lily and James marveled at their silent minds but at the same time thought about how much each one liked the other, Remus threw his head back.

"I'm a werewolf," he said calmly. Everyone stopped. At any other time the tension in the room would have been unbearable but since it was filled to the ceiling with smoke Remus's confession didn't receive the reaction he had always dreaded. Marlene slid to the side a bit so that Sirius's face was finally exposed, "Prongs! Did you know that?!" He looked around. James stopped and seemed to be thinking though his expression was dazed, "Yeah…?" Sirius looked confused, but so did James.

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Marlene asked, not in a hurt way, but curiously.

"Didn't think you'd wanna stay friends with me," said Remus frowning briefly. Lily got up and kissed Remus on the cheek then wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Moony you're stealing my kisses!" James called but not in a harsh way. Alice rolled over and put a hand on Remus's shoulder.

"It's okay, we get a little nasty once a month too," she said in a dreamy voice, gesturing to Marlene and Lily. Everyone laughed for another eternity before the girls decided to call it a night. Remus rose and turned on the radio to the kind of music they liked. Alice hugged Remus, who was still standing, and wished everyone else a good night before she disappeared up the stairs. Marlene gave Sirius a very long good night kiss then followed Alice.

Lily rose from the armchair she shared with James.

"Good night Evans, and thanks," James smiled up at Lily, his hazel eyes searching her blazing green ones.

"I like it when you call me Lily Flower," she responded bending down and pressing her soft lips to his. There was a small amount of warm pressure as all of James's endorphins started screaming, and then she was gone.

"_This one's from the muggles_," said the radio host, "_Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Bugs, no I'm sorry, the Beatles._"

"Oh I love this song!" Lily sighed as she made her way for the stairs. "It's about another drug called LSD."

"We'll do that one next, right?" James said looking up at Lily who smiled but shook her head and she too disappeared up the staircase. The boys sunk into their seats and enjoyed the haze when suddenly Sirius spoke.

"Music is… like… complex and confusing, there's so many sounds at once… is it hard for them to make music?" And with that the three Marauders decided they should call it a night too.

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**Well, I'm glad that's out of my head, sorry if it's a bit long.**

**Don't be lazy! Review if you thought it was good, bad, troll**

**Even if you want to rant to me about how the topic in this story is bad I'd love to hear your feelings (I'd love to hear if you're on the same page as these guys too).** **I liked it.**

**Thanks for reading (:**

**mayzie**


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